Children and Adolescents

Parents and young people with diabetes have been contacting our site for help. Fortunately, following a major scientic symposium about young people with diabetes and sport in Cambridge this year, Runsweet has teamed up with one of the world experts has given us fanststic advice. Michael Riddell who has T1 diabetes himself and an academic at York University, Toronto, Canada, has some great ideas and has contributed this section.

Physical Activity, Sport in Children with Diabetes

Edited from Riddell MC, Iscoe KE. Physical activity, sport, and pediatric diabetes.
Pediatric Diabetes 2006: 7: 60–70.
Treatment for the child with type 1 diabetes (T1DM), formally insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes, has improved dramatically since the discovery of insulin in 1923, in both biological and technological terms. Nevertheless, a number of important clinical management issues are needed for the active child with diabetes to ensure proper health and prevention of longterm complications from the disease

For youth with diabetes who are engaged in sport, control must go beyond the typical regimen of diet and insulin treatment to obtain optimal performance and prevent metabolic complications that can occur both during and after physical activity. Adolescence presents additional concerns for these patients, as hormonal changes during growth and maturation create a temporary state of insulin resistance. In addition, many children maintain some endogenous insulin secretion just after diagnosis, which can make metabolic control particularly challenging.